Aw, either I'm becoming predictable (I can think of a few different crossovers, though. I might even write them at some point) or the frying pan gave it away…Anyway, bravo!

Disclaimer (since I seem to have forgotten about it in the Prologue): Anything you recognize is most likely not mine.

II(:

Chapter one, in which an Elf is Introduced

The girl currently known as Marie Suzanne O'Doome was alone in her compartment on the Hogwarts Express. She changed into the robes that were going to be her new school uniform now. She didn't like them nearly as much as some other ones she had bought, but they were simple and black and she suspected that was supposed to be a good thing somehow. She conjured a full-length mirror. Learning magic had not been a problem. As an elf, the most magical creature in existence, it came to her naturally. But witchcraft was more than just magic, she realised. She had to learn to be a witch. She put on her new pointy hat and admired her reflection. It looked beautiful, as always. And witchy enough for now.

There was a knock on the door.

XXX

Harry took a seat between Neville (whose grandmother had forced him to repeat his last year of school, because, hero or not, he still needs to pass his NEWTs. Some parents and grandparents just are like that. You don't argue with them.) and Ginny, opposite of a fifth-year Slytherin he didn't know and a seventh-year Ravenclaw he didn't like. Some things never changed and Professor Slughorn was one of them. Harry had considered ignoring his invitation. After all he hated this little club. The very idea of it bothered him. Slughorn seemed to think that some people were better than others just because he'd known their parents. It was too close to what Harry had opposed to all his life. But he'd had to come. Everyone had said so: Ginny, Hermione, even Ron. Now that everyone had seen Harry defeat Voldemort again, he was not going to wriggle his way out of being a hero.

'Harry, m'boy!' Slughorn turned to Harry 'Wonderful to see you come back!'

'Um… yeah,' Harry agreed 'I kind of missed out on my seventh year… because of the war and…'

Suddenly the opening door saved him from having to say any more. Everyone stared. Even Professor Slughorn, who had presumably invited her here, seemed a little surprised at her dramatic entrance. Her long dark hair seemed to billow in the wind, even though the air was quite still. Her black robes showed off her wonderful figure perfectly, despite being specifically designed not to. Her face was almost inhumanly beautiful.

'Ah…' Slughorn said a little nervously 'You must be Miss O'Doome…'

'You can call me Marie, sir,' she said in a voice that could make anything sound like poetry.

'I'm right here, Harry!' said a voice next to him.

Harry turned around to see a slightly annoyed Ginny.

'I'm sorry!' he said and quickly kissed her on the cheek.

'You were drooling,' she accused.

'I… um… didn't notice that,' Harry muttered 'Sorry.'

He looked around. Some of the other boys and at least one girl still looked hypnotised.

'I hope she's in Gryffindor,' Neville said absently. Ginny rolled her eyes.

XXX

'Maybe she's some sort of Veela?' Ron said hopefully when they told him about the mysterious new student.

'She didn't look like one,' Ginny pointed out.

'That's true,' Harry agreed 'She was just very… Don't look at me like that, Ginny. You saw her too. She was.'

'Well, all right,' Ginny admitted 'But the really strange thing is that she's starting Hogwarts now. In her seventh year.'

Ron shrugged.

'So am I,' he said 'So are lots of people right now. Starting over after the war.'

'I think it's very nice of Professor McGonagall to let us do that,' Hermione added.

'No,' Ginny said 'That's not it. She's never been to Hogwarts before.'

'She said she was a foreign exchange student,' Neville spoke for the first time.

'We didn't use to get many of those before,' Ginny observed.

'Okay,' Harry agreed 'This is a little unusual, but…'

'Look, what do you have against her anyway?' Neville suddenly exclaimed 'It's not wrong to be pretty, you know.'

Harry put an arm around his girlfriend shoulders.

'And you don't need to be jealous either,' he said 'You know I love you. And I don't even know her. I don't know what happened to all of us just then…'

'And you say there was something not quite human about her?' Luna suddenly said.

'Oh, please, Luna!' Hermione said 'I'm sure she's not a vampire or anything! Vampires don't - '

'No,' Luna agreed 'She isn't.'

XXX

Marie returned to her compartment quite satisfied. So those were all the people who where worth knowing. And they liked her. Oh boy, did they like her! This was no surprise. Everyone liked Marie. She was going to enjoy this.

One thing confused her, though. One of the boys didn't seem to fit in very well. Everyone else in there was special (not as special as her, but then again nobody's perfect. Except for her, that is.). He'd just sat there, all shy and quiet, only speaking when someone asked him a question. He had even spilled his drink all over himself. He intrigued her. He was a mystery she would have to find out the answer to. What had Neville Longbottom been doing there? And once she finds out, she's going to have some fun.

XXX

'What?' Ron asked in shock 'Like Dobby and Winky?'

'No, Ron,' Luna said 'Like… how should I explain it to you?' She paused for a moment, thinking about it.

'Has any of you ever read any Muggle fantasy books?' she asked.

Ron, Ginny and Neville had never had enough contact with the Muggle world and Harry's uncle had always disapproved of fantasy because it was what young people with too much imagination read. Hermione, however, had been raised in a relatively normal Muggle household and always enjoyed reading.

'I have, of course,' she said 'Before I knew I was a witch. I always used to wish magic was real,' she admitted 'But what does it have to do with anything?'

'I think' Luna said 'this Marie might be - '

Hermione sighed.

'I'm sorry to break it to you, Luna, but we are not in Middle-Earth. The only kind of elves that exist are House-Elves.'

Luna lowered her voice to a whisper.

'No,' she said as though she was revealing a secret 'They are real. I saw one once. My mother used to research them,' she added.

'Why do you read that stuff anyway?' Hermione asked 'Muggle fantasy, I mean? You always knew it wasn't real.'

'So did you,' Luna replied.